Music at the Limits

‘Edward Said had a lifelong passion for music, and possessed the rare ability to write about it for the general reader with a lucid and penetrating intelligence' - TLS‘There are few whose command of words is sufficient not only to illuminate music, but to help music illuminate the world of those who make and listen to it. Said was one' - Daily Telegraph'The sheer eloquence of Said's writings reminds us that with his untimely death we have lost one of our most distinguished music critics.' - Maynard Solomon, The Julliard SchoolWITH A FOREWORD BY DANIEL BARENBOIMMusic at the Limits brings together three decades of Edward W. Said's essays and articles on music. Addressing the work of a wide variety of composers and performers, Said analyses music's social and political contexts, and provides rich and often surprising assessments. He reflects on the censorship of Wagner in Israel; the relationship between music and feminism; and the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Rossini, Schumann, Stravinsky and others. Always eloquent and often surprising, Music at the Limits reinforces Said's reputation as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.‘This fine collection by one of the most perceptive music critics of the last half-century is highly recommended' - Library Journal

‘Edward Said had a lifelong passion for music, and possessed the rare ability to write about it for the general reader with a lucid and penetrating intelligence', ‘Timely ... the essays come across as fresh and lively ... There are few whose command of words is sufficient not only to illuminate music, but to help music illuminate the world of those who make and listen to it. Said was one', 'The sheer eloquence of Said's writings reminds us that with his untimely death we have lost one of our most distinguished music critics.', ‘This fine collection by one of the most perceptive music critics of the last half-century is highly recommended'

Edward Said was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He was the author of more than twenty books, including Orientalism, Culture and Imperialism and On Late Style and his essays and reviews appeared in newspapers and periodicals throughout the world. Edward Said died in September 2003.